Balakrishna spoke in Hindi for quite a long time during the Akhanda 2 song-launch event held today in Mumbai.
In fact, his Hindi speech was far better than his Telugu speech in terms of clarity of thought and expression. He used chaste, shuddh Hindi vocabulary.
Though he made rare grammatical slips, on the whole his Hindi is far better than that of any other Telugu actor of his age.
Born and raised in Chennai and later in Hyderabad, he is obviously fluent in Tamil and Telugu, but gaining proficiency in Hindi purely out of interest and passion is commendable.
A few years ago, he had earlier spoken in Hindi once when he criticised Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders, and at that time his Hindi speech was trolled for his usage of words and expressions.
But now he has clearly picked up better Hindi, and that reflects his ongoing learning. This time he thanked the BJP government for honouring him with the Padma Vibhushan.
Overall, he spoke with confidence, rarely searching for words. He spoke about his father as usual, about his films, and about his work at Basavatarakam Cancer Hospital.
He declared that he is spiritual and ritualistic in daily life, wakes up at 3 a.m., and performs puja paath.
He also spoke about Akhanda 2 and Hindu Sanatana Dharma. He mentioned Gautamiputra Satakarni and also referred to Gudi Padwa (Ugadi) in flow.
Speaking for such a long time with such spontaneity and confidence in Hindi, and with the right flow, is indeed laudable.
He praised Thaman, introducing him as “Nandamuri Thaman,” and mentioned him as the single music director behind the success of many of his films.
He marketed Akhanda 2 as rooted in “Hindava Sanatana Dharma” and appealed to everyone to watch it with their children. He also praised the Telugu language and described it as “the Italian of the East.”
He introduced the child artiste who acted in Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Daaku Maharaj with ease and humour.
He also spoke about his OTT show Unstoppable and said that he would restart it after its current pause. He said that the film Akhanda 2 is releasing on December 5th and appealed to all to watch it.
His Hindi speech was remarkably fluent and impressive, offering genuine inspiration to many non-Hindi-speaking Telugus by showing how passion and effort can break language barriers.
